How Golden was my Week?

Pretty damn, thank you very much. My five day weekend started with a special enkai, one where new teachers are welcomed, and those that depart are given a hearty sayonara...with lots of alcohol.

Definitely my most regimented enkai, divided into sections to accommodate speeches and socialising. The latter had me remembering that Japan is a very conservative country, and that my tongue, once lubricated with beer, is capable of slobbering over some very sensitive issues, not least of all, the fictional character Yasunori Kato (from the epic Teito Monogatari, adapted into the manga Doomed Megalopolis), a powerful wizard intent on destroying Tokyo. The notion that a Japanese might want to raze the capital puzzled, and might even have offended those encountering my enthusiasm for the first time. Thankfully, the atmosphere was saved by the scheduled rendition of the school anthem (all three verses). The stage was then set for a rapid descent into karaoke.

My attempt to sing a song in Japanese was described as "funny". However, the new Kyoto sensei, looking like he had just stepped out of the shower into his suit & singing "Born to be Wild" in the manner you imagine every drunken Japanese man at karaoke, was equally hilarious to me and worthy of a hearty guffaw. That was a pleasure I saved until later, as my rank at school is roughly equal to that of the stationary cupboard.

Only Hayley can testify as to my state when I got home. Needless to say, I was useless the next day.


Once I'd recovered, we took full advantage of the holiday by venturing out to Daiyuzan in Minami-ashigara, where life moves at a somewhat gentler pace. The plan was to see Daiyuzan Saijoji, third highest ranking Temple of the Soto Buddhist sect. This idea was crushed by the colossal distance we had to walk, and the irregularity of mountain buses. We did however, manage to take in the Sunset Waterfall, where the legendary Kintaro bathed as a child.



As fortune would have it, we arrived the day before Boys Day, the last holiday of Golden Week, when parents erect samurai dolls and fly carp streamers to pray for the future success of their sons. The tale of the wild boy, Kintaro, appointed by the ancestor of the first shogun, Yorimitsu Minamoto because of his absurd strength, is quite resonant at this time of year, especially in the mountains where he wrestled bears. Koi were out in force.


...and that's not all...not by a long shot...Hayley and I went to Nikko last weekend. That's an entry in of itself, and there will be pictures...